@isagc @seeker … guys, question (I tagged you randomly because you might know and have a recommendation or can forward my question to someone who can) —— From this MDL list of Chinese dramas, which ones would you recommend to watch and for what reason? I have so far resisted watching any C-Drama, but that title of this list appealed to me:
https://mydramalist.com/article/strong-female-leads-in-chinese-historical-and-wuxia-dramas

I know there are a fair amount within this community who watch C-Drama, but so far I have not paid any attention to this. Maybe you can help? Hugs x

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    Sure no worries, please tag anytime. Our DB C-drama experts will help you.

    @bebeswtz @Dorotka @Gikata @Jillian

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      Thanks very much Cera! (By the way is your first name Cera? @seeker 🙂 I’ll ask them, or when they see the tag maybe they’ll respond …

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      From that list, i have watched:

      Love Between Fairy and Devil – i enjoyed both ML and FL here. This is an easy and enjoyable watch for me since I like enemies to lovers storyline. FL need a bit of getting used to at first since she started very naive.

      Love Like the Galaxy – I like Zhao Lusi here. She started the story as a strong and willful young lady but eventually grew on her own strengths. I didnt finish this yet but I got to see more than half of the episodes and enjoyed it a lot.

      Long Ballad – i love this story. Its like a peek into a bit of Chinese history that I am not familiar with. Both Dilraba and Wu Lei are likeable and good in Their roles.

      Story of Kunning Palace – I only recently started this and I am only at ep10. I like the FL she is no pushover. Its more of a story about learning and redemption.

      Other dramas I cam recommend with strong FL are:

      A Journey to Love – The FL is strongest and toughest I have seen in cdrama. i am not a cdrama expert in anyway since I only started watching a little over a year ago with LBFAD.

      Till The End of the Moon – FL is smart, strong amd powerful in her own way. I enjoy the beautiful costumes and tragic story of the leads.

      The Double – i like this revenge story. The FL has a strong character that strived to seek revenge on a husband that killed her for selfish reasons.

      Meet Yourself – this is more of a feel good modern day drama

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      I don’t have much to add to the extensive comments of other Beanies.
      Maybe just that I watch cdramas solely based on my mood. 😊
      Sometimes I’m in a mood for something sweet like Boss and Me, sometimes for something over the top like Lethal Man or short period innocent makjang webdrama Provoke … sometimes I have mood and time for longer epic fantasy dramas like Love Between Fairy and Devil or Lost You Forever, sometimes I prefer the modern ones like Fake It Till You Make It or Will Love in Spring , sometimes I laugh with Gaus Electronics … and sometimes I’m still waiting for the right mood, like with Meet Yourself .
      So my recommendation is, read the short synopsis and start a drama which speaks to you. Just be prepared for a slower start… and that the drop rate may be higher than with the kdramas. 😁😁

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        Thank you for taking the time to respond. 🫰
        It is wonderful to know your process. 👏
        Ultimately we all watch dramas which resonate with us and timing of course is key to that.

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    From that list I have watched Love between Fairy and Devil. It’s like a fairy tale, quite theatrical, plain characters, and it has a great OST… It was my first C-drama and I don’t know if you would like it. I struggled to watch the first ten episodes, but then it gets better. The FL is like a baby at the beginning, pouting all the time, but later on, she is able to go through anything (even risking her life) for love.

    I am sure that Love like the Galaxy is a great show too. I want to watch it, but first I want to finish The story of Minglan, which is not in that list but it also has a strong and smart FL.

    A Journey to love is another show with a very strong FL. She is a probably the best fighter in that drama. A “heartless” assassin at the beginning. This is a 100% epic show.

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    Yes!! Just like Cera has already said, don’t hesitate to tag us C-drama Beanies whenever you need!! We’re more than happy to help 🥰

    Specifically from that MDL list, I’ve only watched– but then dropped quite early on– The Long Ballad (dropped at Ep. 10) and Love Between Fairy and Devil (dropped at Ep. 2), so I can’t really give much feedback to anything specific to this list XD But if you want some other recs of female-centric C-dramas, here is what I’d recommend:

    1. FANTASY/MYTHOLOGICAL genre:
    Lost You Forever Season 1: https://mydramalist.com/44985-lost-you-forever &
    Season 2: https://mydramalist.com/757669-lost-you-forever-season-2 (S2 currently airing)

    2. FANTASY/MYTHOLOGICAL genre:
    Ashes of Love
    https://mydramalist.com/23281-heavy-sweetness-ash-like-frost

    3. HISTORICAL genre:
    One and Only
    https://mydramalist.com/63781-love-your-bones-forever-2

    4. MODERN genre:
    Forever and Ever
    https://mydramalist.com/61865-love-your-bones-forever
    (a loose “Season 2” of One and Only — due to censorship, Cdramas filmed at the time didn’t allow for a “transmigration” or “time slip” theme, so the production & writer broke down the story– originally a novel– into 2 seasons and hinted at the loose connection of the 2 drama adaptations of the original novel)

    5. MODERN genre:
    Pretty Li Hui Zhen (C-remake of Korea’s She Was Pretty)
    https://mydramalist.com/19444-pretty-li-hui-zhen

    6. MODERN slice-of-life genre:
    Meet Yourself
    https://mydramalist.com/715585-you-feng-de-di-fang

    7. COSTUME:
    New Life Begins
    https://mydramalist.com/700341-qing-chuan-daily-life

    8. COSTUME:
    The Imperial Coroner
    https://mydramalist.com/50135-the-imperial-coroner

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      Great recs, Bebe!!

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        All of them are pretty close to my heart— all for various reasons— and are forever staples on my “Can re-watch” list 😊❤️

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      I have always wanted to know what’s the different between historical and costume dramas 🤔
      Maybe the second ones don’t have to take place in a real time and place? As happens with fussion-sageuks.

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        Yes!! “Fusion” would be a good way to put it:
        A costume drama is basically just a C-drama that takes place in ancient times, but does not have a specific era or time in history that is explicitly defined, and it may or may not sometimes have elements in it that make you go “Hey, what??” either because it doesn’t really fit for ancient times (like a slang or a notion or even mannerisms) or it may not have any historical accuracy (I say “or”, because sometimes the thing that happened in the drama may be actually be historically accurate but dismissed casually unless a viewer pays enough attention to catch it).
        E.g. The recently finished airing—and suuuuuper hyped— costume drama, Joy of Life, season 2.

        On the other end, a historical drama is basically just that:
        A drama written and based—either loosely or as close and as accurately as possible, it’s the latter most of the time — to a time and place (era/dynasty) in actual history.
        E.g. The Empress of China, a drama based on the life & reign of China’s only ever legitimate female sovereign

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          Great explanation! Thank you! 👏
          So Joy of Life 1 and 2, which I have just finished, are costume dramas (+wuxia). New Life Begins is a costume drama (fictional time and place) without wuxia elements.

          The story of Minglan would be historical. But in this case is realistic, well documented slice-of-life, about domestic issues…

          And then we have pure wuxias (like A Journey to love) which are mainly fictional too, like costume dramas.

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            No problem!! 😊 I’m always happy to help where I can, I just hope I don’t come off as a know-it-all (because I really DON’T know everything) or that I am fecturing (female lecturing) people 😅

            Yes, essentially!!
            And then there’s the whole can of worms between wuxia vs. xuanhuan vs. xianxia vs. qihuan LOL A lot of it is just a sub-genre under a bigger genre with different details getting more specific that distinguishes each sub-genre

            This page explains it pretty well in a nutshell:
            https://wuxiasociety.com/whats-the-difference-between-wuxia-xianxia-and-xuanhuan/

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            I knew the difference between wuxia and xianxia but now thanks to that website I have learned about xuanhuan too 😄

            Thank you!

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            @bebeswtz I’m greatful that you always take out time to explain in detail. I for one always have a handful of questions for you.
            You are invariably generous with sharing your knowledge not a know-it-all or a fecturer. 😅
            Thank you for your comments. 😊❤🥰🙏👏

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    I’m not tagged in this post lol but I’m meddling in to give a few recommendations. If you haven’t seen a single cdrama before, I would recommend you to first start with modern cdramas rather than historicals. Because chinese historicals are very different from sageuks. They will have fantasy elements for which the closet k counterpart would be Alchemy of Souls, but there are also others like sageuks. I would suggest beginning from shows like Hi Venus, Meet Yourself, Go Ahead, Twnety your life on, The day of becoming you or Tale of Rose. And then check any of these historicals among which I quite liked Dream of Splendor, A Journey to Love and Love Between Fairy and Devil. But mind you it will be a very different experience for the last one as it is full on fantasy about fairies and demons. For a historical drama loosely based on historical facts, I really liked the recent Heroes (2024). I’ve heard good things about Story of Minglan too but never watched it. I’ve checked some other dramas in the list but MDL lists or ratings are usually not indicative of quality content.

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      For Chinese dramas I usually have a look at Douban, because I think ratings there are more reliable than in My drama list.

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      Thank you for taking the time to respond. 🫰The tags were just for people who may be able to help but kind recommendations from ALL Beanies are more than welcome. 😊❤🙏

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    To the recs that have already been shared, I would say that Love Between Fairy and Devil is a good intro to xianxia if you’re new to the costume-fantasy genre. However, I loved The Starry Love more. The FL in Parallel World is amazing and fantastic, and another one I recommend. For something a little different, The Double is a revenge melodrama that just finished airing, and it has a strong and excellent FL, too.

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    lol.. c dramas come in 3 genres..

    Modern (truly modern or even republican), Wuxia (hero is poor, in search of his identity and eventual revenge…lot of real worldish action), xiansia (fantasy, multiple birth, gods and demons, mostly romance)..

    Modern dramas come in 3 types – very short (10 min each sorta stuff.. 50 ep); 24 episode dramas (usually 30 to 40 min ep); standard 30-40 episodes

    choose genre and then go after it.. MDL has a rating page.. it is fairly accurate in terms of wider audience preferences

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    Since @seeker threw me under the bus, I’ll have to give my probably harsh take on it. First of all, that list is a mess – author simply slapped popular nowadays tryhard “girlboss FLs!!!!” label on a compilation of VERY FEW dramas they actually watched without any further thought and then likely had a great fun watching the battle royale in the comments unfold.

    Second, if we’d REALLY talk about cdramas with female protagonists which can be called strong women, we should define what exactly makes them strong first – physical strength and badass stunts? Sharp brains and ability to navigate the seas of court/harem/business intrigues like a fish? Untarnished morals and dedication to the great cause not unlike their heroic male counterparts? Rare both in fiction and irl talent to always have their crap together no matter what life throws at them? Or simply being a poorly written raging Mary Sue who does not need a man at any point of her fabulous life? If it’s the latter, then pls ask someone else. Otherwise I’ll need more specifics to talk about genres, actresses and drama titles in detail.

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      Thank you Gikata for taking the time to respond. I want to be able to write like you when I grow up. ❤ 😅

      For me YOU are the ultimate C-drama girl boss with “ irl talent to always have their crap together no matter what life throws at them“. 🫰 🥰🌟

      I’m sure that is exactly what we all aspire to be.

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        Hah, I wish I was indeed as cool as I may sound sometimes! Being eloquent on paper and competent in other aspects of life is not the same, sadly. My life is a hot mess, always been – not exactly my fault most of the times, but I always wonder if I, perhaps, could’ve handle it better… You know, the usual boring thoughts adults are sometimes plagued with. But thanks for your kind words anyway)))

        My late great-grandma, who lived until 89 with 100% of her wits intact (biggest witch of us all, I swear!), used to say that it’s never too late to learn and improve. So I wish you – heck, everyone here! – to grow into who you want to be one day, age notwithstanding^^

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          Gikata I recently learned (therapy works sometimes) that I have actually come a long way from the hot mess I thought I was (again not all my fault). I never noticed till it was pointed out to me that indeed my coping mechanisms have been working and that I am able to function better. So while we are all work-in-progress, the continued efforts for our well-being do make us cool. 😎
          Your great-grandma had it right. We are all learning everyday till we are alive. 🙌👌😊❤

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    I’m happy to talk c-dramas! Beanies are the reason I decided to try one late last year and my addiction to them is only growing. I’ll probably watch more c-dramas this year than k-dramas, tbh. They’re definitely different than k-dramas in most regards, so don’t go in expecting them to be similar but just in another language. 🤗

    It helps to start by understanding c-drama genres. I’m by no means an expert on this but I can give you a simple overview from my perspective. First of all, the broad division is modern, historical, and fantasy dramas. The big draw for me is the fantasy category, which includes:

    Wuxia — martial arts and epic hero’s journeys
    Xianxia — froth and glitter plus immortals, demons, and epic transformation events
    Xuanhuan — warriors, spiritual cultivation, and epic power plays
    Shenmo – supernatural creatures, mythology and cosmology, and epic battles

    There are also stories that are Modern or Historical + Fantasy. I don’t know what the name for them is. These dramas include time travel or some sort of supernatural / sci-fi event. A good example is the currently airing The Princess Royal, which features a “life do-over” (a very common c-drama theme), but other than that is historical fiction.

    ANYWAY… hope that background info helps.

    Although I’m repeating many dramas already mentioned by other beanies, my favorite c-dramas so far with strong female leads are:

    The Double – strong and smart female lead (Xuanhuan)

    A Journey to Love – totally badass female lead (Wuxia)

    Blossoms in Adversity – sweet but courageous female lead (Historical Fiction)

    Fake It Til You Make It – “not taking any relationship crap” female lead (Modern)

    The Legend of Shen Li – warrior general female lead (Xianxia)

    The Princess Royal (still airing on Viki) – politically savvy female lead (Fantasy)

    Destined – business savvy female lead (Historical Fiction)

    Other favorite c-dramas that don’t necessarily have a strong female lead:

    Joy of Life Seasons 1 and 2 – strong male lead (mixed genres)
    this is a don’t miss, imho

    Lost You Forever Seasons 1 and 2 (currently airing on Viki) – female lead + 4 male leads (Xianxia/Xuanhuan)

    Till the End of the Moon – balanced male/female leads (Xianxia)

    I could go on and on… I’ve watched a lot of great c-drama this year! 😉

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